social media advocacy & public affairs
TRANSCRIPT
Social Media Advocacy & Public Affairs
June 9, 2016
CACV Quarterly Meeting
Overview
Why Social Matters
Social Media 101
Social 2.0 Tools
CACV: Moving the Conversation
Why Social Matters
Why Social Matters
Ubiquitous: 73% of U.S. adults on Internet use social networking sites;
Highly Engaged Users: 23% of Facebook users check the site 5x or more daily;
Primary News Source: Significant increase in number of users who use social media as primary news source; 43% of users say they learn more about political or social issues because of something they saw online;
Advocacy Launchpad: 28% of people who use social media for personal reasons support a health-related cause. Facebook users 2.5x more likely to attend a political event or rally;
Outsize Political Influence: In Senate races, the candidate with more Facebook friends than opponent won 81% of the time; 57% of Facebook users are more likely to persuade a friend or coworker to vote;
Why Social Matters - Trends
Facebook Still #1: Approximately 3x the users of all other sites combined;
Unique User Bases Evolving: Facebook is considered entry level/gateway; each site has unique user base: Facebook: Looks like the Internet, only slightly younger; Twitter: Young, ethnically diverse (particularly African-American audiences); Instagram: See Twitter; Pinterest: Women; LinkedIn: Middle-Aged Professionals;
Phone, Email & Text Still Critical: For people born before 1980, the phone, email and
text are the preferred form of communication and should remain key component of any public affairs campaign;
Increase in Images and Video, Particularly to Reach Millennials: Facebook still best way to reach millennials, but Instagram and Snapchat next highest;
Paid Promotion Increasingly Important: Social networks limiting organic reach of posts – more organizations paying to promote content.
Why Social Matters – Advantages & Disadvantages
Advantages
• Live, Immediate, Fast
• Open Source, Inherently Inclusive
• Equal Voice
• Go Beyond Your Usual Network
• More Ways to Distribute and Amplify Messages
• Measurable and Observable
Social media can also present potential pitfalls, including:
• Overwhelming Speed
• Mistakes are Public and Easier to Make
• Everything is Recorded
• Competing Voices Can Sound like Noise
• Everything Can Be Amplified
Why Social Matters – Digital Advocacy
Advocacy Paradigm Shift – Obama ’08
Amplification/Pull-Through/ Influence
Growing Influence Over Elected Officials
Resource-Effective
Unique User Bases and Demographic Tracking Allow Hyper-Targeting
Digital Advocacy: The use of digital technology to contact, inform, and mobilize a group of concerned people around an issue or cause.
Social Media 101
Social Media 1.0 Recap
Branded Organizational Accounts
Email/eNewsletter/Blogs
Facebook & Twitter
Highlighting Member Activity
Encouraging Members to Join
Finding the Conversation
Social Media 101 - Facebook
Digital face of an organization or movement
Access to largest online network of Americans
Mobilize allies, colleagues, patients and policymakers
Amplify earned media, events and other efforts
Ability to tag influential policymakers, reporters and other organizations
Social Media 101 - Facebook
• More than just a way to connect with friends and family
• Groups, pages and causes – connect with people around the world
• Pictures/graphic content
• Post on legislator and reporter/media outlet walls
• Hashtags exist but are less important than on Twitter
• Character limit, but you’ll never reach it
• Build your voice by: replying, sharing, liking
Social Media 101 - Twitter
Live, instant and public communication
Distribute multiple kinds of content to a wide range of audiences
Amplify earned media, events and other efforts
Ability to tag/communicate directly with influential policymakers, journalists and other organizations
Social Media 101 - Twitter
• Millions of tweets every day
• 140 character limit
• Pictures (count as characters but help your tweet)
• Tweet at lawmakers & media (“mention”)
• Use relevant hashtags
• Follow accounts & lists
• Build your voice by: replying, retweeting, favoriting
Anatomy of a Tweet Organizational Handle
Profile Picture
Image
Reply
Retweet
Like
Mentions
Relevant Hashtag
Social Media 101 - LinkedIn
Social network aimed at professionals
106 million monthly active users
Gives voice to companies/individuals through long-form posts, general content and advertising
Shift to more content-heavy, mobile-friendly platform to keep people around and coming back
Precise ad targeting can reach specific industries, job titles or companies
Social Media 2.0 Tools
Infographics/Shareables/GIFs
Videos/Testimonials
Digital Town Hall/Google Hangout
Twitter Chat/Storify
Thunderclap/Twibbon
Digital Grassroots/Take-Action
Paid Digital Advertising
Infographics/Shareables/GIFs
Graphic representation of data or information;
Engagement significantly higher for content with visuals;
Help explain complex issues despite restricted space;
Infographics tools include: Piktochart, Visual.ly, Infogr.am, Photoshop
Quote graphics tools include: Quozio, Recite, PowerPoint
Videos/Testimonials
Storytelling tool – put a human face on complex policy issues;
Useful education tool - information retained by viewers is significantly higher than written text;
Expand the audience for advocates/testimonials;
Numerous free & low cost tools: Hyperlapse Instagram App, YouTube editor, iMovie, Animoto, Vine, Google Hangout;
Digital Town Hall/Google Hangout
Broadcast panel discussions, hold meetings, interview experts, conduct webinars;
Memorialize conversations and repurpose with external audiences;
Video automatically loaded to your YouTube page and can be shared on websites, through email, & social media;
Twitter Chat/Storify Public online conversation –
agreed-upon topic, agreed-upon time;
Invite participants and use dedicated hashtag that participants can follow;
Storify is a content curation service used to pull together content and add appropriate context;
Storify effective for recapping Twitter chats & events and pulling them through with external audiences;
Social movement tools used to amplify causes, milestones or events;
Thunderclap allows people to pledge to send a message on social media all at the same time – an “online flash mob.” Messages can be sent via Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr at a time determined before launching the campaign;
Well-executed Thunderclap campaigns can exponentially increase the reach of your social media campaign;
Twibbon allows users to overlay an image with their personal social media profile pictures and publically support a cause.
Thunderclap/Twibbon
A Take Action center can highlight access policy issues and direct users to contact officials at the local, state, or federal level with your organization’s messaging points;
Tools for Take Action centers can easily be added to your organization’s website & allow you to track & measure advocacy campaigns’
Examples of services include: CQ Engage, CapWiz, VoterVoice
Digital Grassroots/Take-Action Tools
Digital Advertising
Audience hard to grow organically & organic reach declining;
Highly targeted outreach with distinct messages;
High level of control and low barriers to entry;
YouTube (Pre-roll/In-Stream, Display, Overlay In-Video)
Twitter (new Twitter cards)
Google Adwords
Facebook Ads & Boosting Posts
Digital Advertising
CACV: Moving the Cancer Conversation Forward
“Va. Organization Unveils 5-Year Cancer Plan”
CACV Cancer Plan Rollout 2014
Grow Your Presence/Following
Listen first;
Identify conversations/influencers;
Soft-launch accounts;
Begin posting regularly;
Announce new platforms to members/database;
Cross-promote via existing platforms;
Make it easy for people to follow through links/buttons;
Add accounts to email signature;
Tweet at influencers or individual users;
Engage in two-way conversations;
Ask third-party partners to like/follow;
Paid advertising/follower acquisition;
Maximizing Your Resources
Everything is content;
Retweet/share content from allied third parties;
Identify social media champions;
Ask your followers to RT, share, etc.
Schedule posts in advance (via Hootsuite or Tweetdeck);
Find existing resources (e.g., legislative lists);
Create and Subscribe to Twitter lists;
Make sharing your content as easy as possible for your membership (e.g., send emails that include draft tweets, a shortened URL, relevant hashtags, etc.);
Save Key Hashtags;
Google Nonprofits;
Moving Forward/Social Best Practices
Build CACV network/“surround sound”
Grow high-value followers;
Pull each piece of content through;
Engage policymakers with calls to action;
Thank supportive policymakers;
Leverage calendar milestones;
Use graphics to create more dynamic content;
Live-tweet/blog events, curate activity and repurpose with additional audiences;
Incorporate a digital aspect to a traditional advocacy event (lobby day, press conference, annual meeting, etc.);
Email supporters with simple digital calls-t0-action;
Questions?